The Story of Us
by Ackleholic89
Summary: AU: How many times has Elena "met" Damon? This is about the first time. I only own two characters and I think you can figure out who they are. ;
1. Chapter 1

The Story of Us

Summary: AU: The story of how Damon and Elena really met.

Elena was hunched in a ball on her bed. Her cheeks were soaked from the tears she had been crying all morning. Her eyes were almost swollen shut, and every time she felt she couldn't cry anymore, somehow more tears began to fall. Downstairs, her parents were loudly discussing her "situation" with her Uncle John-why he needed to be involved with this was beyond her. In fact, of all of the people who knew, he was the last person she would have told, and had her mother not been there, she wouldn't have told her either. Heck, she didn't even want to go to the doctor in the first place, and when he came back with results that told her she was pregnant she literally laughed in his face. It wasn't possible. For all she knew, she was a virgin. For crying out loud, she was 14! She didn't even have a boyfriend. Sure, her friend Matt was pretty cute and she had entertained the thought once or twice, but she was sure she would remember losing her virginity. Right? But there she was, pregnant at 14 and the first person her parents call is Uncle John? This had to be some twisted nightmare that she was going to wake up from any minute.

"How could this have happened?" Her mother was yelling.

"Are you sure she doesn't know?" Uncle John was asking.

"She said she doesn't remember and I believe her." Her dad was sticking up for her.

"Do you think she was raped? Maybe roofied?" John was questioning again.

"I don't know." Her mother started. "I mean, it's possible I guess."

"Or maybe..." Her dad trailed off.

"That's not possible. Is it?" Her mom was asking. What was he talking about?

"There are lots of things we don't know." Uncle John answered vaguely.

What don't they know? What could it be?!

Suddenly, their voices got really quiet and Elena was unable to hear them anymore. She briefly thought about hiding at the foot of the staircase to listen in, but exhaustion took over. The next thing she knew, somebody was shaking her awake. Once she gathered her thoughts and the hopes of it all being a dream were dashed, she realized it was her mother.

"Mom?" She looked upset and Elena's heart beat quickened.

"Honey," She tucked a strand of hair behind her daughter's ear. "You need to pack a few bags."

"You're kicking me out?!" Elena exclaimed.

"No!" Her mom quickly reassured her. "Since we're not sure what exactly happened, we've decided that you're going to go with John." Before Elena could protest, she continued. "He knows of someone who may be able to help. You're going to stay with them until the baby is born and then you'll come back here in time for your freshman year. Everyone will think you were on an exchange program and no one will be the wiser."

"But what happens when I come back with a baby?" Her mother looked down and refused to meet her daughter's eyes. "I...am... going to bring the baby back with me. Right?"

Her mother slowly got up. "Hurry up and pack. John said you have to leave in the next hour."

"Mom?" No response. "Mom?!"

"I'm sorry." She said softly, before closing Elena's door. Bitter tears began to fall and she angrily got up and began throwing clothes in a suitcase. When her mom walked in a few moments ago, she would have done anything to stay here, now she couldn't get away fast enough. It wasn't fair. Sure, she didn't have any clue as to how she had gotten pregnant, but it was still her baby. Her mom couldn't make her give it away. Could she?

"Elena?"

"What?" she snapped, before realizing that it was Jeremy. "Sorry, Jere. I'm just a little stressed out right now."

"Are you leaving?"

"I have to. Mom and Dad are making me."

"Why?"

Elena stopped packing and looked up at him questioningly. "You don't know?"

He shook his head. "When I heard mom and dad start yelling, I put my headphones in and fell asleep. Were they yelling about you?"

She took a deep breath and walked around to the foot of her bed and sat on the mattress. If she was going to be telling this lie for the rest of her life, she may as well start practicing now. She began smoothing out her comforter and slowly started, "I'm doing an exchange program. I didn't really want to leave home, but mom and dad think it'll be a good idea."

"Where are you going to go?"

"I'm not sure yet. I find out in a couple of hours."

"Well, have fun. I'm gonna miss you."

The tears that had almost stopped, quickly started up again. Elena got up and hugged her brother hard. "I'm going to miss you too, Jere."

She finished packing and went downstairs, avoiding her parents calls to say "goodbye" to them and heading straight for her uncle's car. She didn't say anything to him on the ride to the airport, or "goodbye" when he handed her the boarding pass that would get her on the plane to Rome. She just took it and went. When she got off in Rome, after the longest flight of her life (she got some much needed rest though), she found a girl, maybe a couple of years older than her, holding a sign that said "Elena Gilbert".

"I'm Elena Gilbert." She told the girl.

"Hi!" She threw her arms around Elena and Elena hesitantly responded. "My name's Giavonna. You can call me Gia."

"Nice to meet you." They began walking toward baggage claim and Elena struck up a conversation. "Your English is perfect."

"I was born and raised in the States. My family moved back to Italy about three months ago."

"Oh...so how do you know my uncle?"

"Your uncle? Damon?"

"Damon? Umm...no. Jonathan Gilbert is my uncle."

"I've never heard of him. Uncle Damon is the one who told us you'd be coming."

"What did he tell you about me?"

"Nothing really. He just said you had a problem that he had to help you with and you'd be staying with us."

"Well, I have a problem, but I don't know how he or anybody else can help me though."

"What is it?"

Elena sighed. "I guess you'll figure it out soon enough... I'm pregnant. That's the first time I've said it out loud. The kicker is that I have no recollection of anything happening."

Gia nodded. "And they think it was vampires."

Elena couldn't stop the laughter that erupted out of her. "Vampires? Ha! Good one."

"You don't believe vampires exist?"

"Of course not. Why, do you?"

Gia opened her mouth and closed it back several times, obviously trying to find the best way to word what she was thinking. "I guess you could say I've been raised to believe in their existence."

The conversation died there. Elena didn't want to say anything else that would insult her host. She may not have necessarily chosen to come and stay here, but if she was being forced, she didn't want to get on Gia's bad side by making fun of her beliefs, however absurd they might be.


	2. Chapter 2

They found her bags and once they were outside, Gia led them over to a town car. The driver put her luggage in the trunk and the two girls got into the back seat.

"You're going to love Italy." Gia suddenly burst.

"I really can't believe I'm here. This all happened so fast. Yesterday morning, I go to the doctor and by that afternoon I'm on a plane headed here."

"And you really don't know how it happened?"

Elena shrugged. "Well, I can imagine _how_ it happened, but as far as the where, when, who, and why...well that's a little fuzzy."

"I can't imagine what you must be going through. Having something so life changing happen to you and not being able to remember anything about it. Maybe it was a really traumatic moment and you blocked it out."

Elena shrugged again. "Maybe. I don't know. I don't think the whole thing has officially sunk in yet."

"How far along did the doctor say you were?"

Elena thought back. Between the laughter and sheer panic she hadn't paid much attention to how long she had actually been pregnant, but she was sure he had said something. "Eleven weeks, I think he said."

"Well what were you doing eleven weeks ago?"

She counted back. "I had just gotten out of school. All of the 7th graders went to the woods and had a party. I had a good time, but got tired and left early and walked home." Gia looked at her with slight concern. "What?" Elena asked.

Gia shook her head. "Nothing. So do you think that's the night it happened?"

"It's possible, but like I said, all I did was go to the party in the woods. I had a good time, but got tired and left early and walked home. That was it. Nothing else."

The way Gia nodded, Elena could tell she didn't believe her, but she decided not to make a big deal about it. If Gia would rather believe in vampires than Elena, who was she to judge?

They pulled up to a rather large house that was surrounded by a security gate.

"Are you rich?" Elena blurted out before she could stop herself.

Gia laughed. "Sort of. It belonged to my ancestors." Gia got out then motioned to Elena to follow her. "Come on! Angelo will bring your bags to your room while I show you around." Angelo, she took it, was the driver.

Elena got out and Gia pulled her along, showing her the kitchen, dining room, Gia's room, and her room (which was also across the hall from this mysterious "Uncle Damon", who was apparently not here, but would be there sometime the next day). When they finished the tour of the inside of the house, Gia took her outside to show her the pool and stables. Although, both girls soon realized that with Elena's "condition", horse riding may not be the best thing. The jet lag was catching up to her, and Elena decided to turn in early.

She woke up to her stomach growling and realized it was after 3:00 a.m., but she had gone to bed without dinner. Elena quietly made her way downstairs and after a little trial and error, found her way to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator, but couldn't find anything particularly appetizing. Sighing, she closed the door and that was when she saw the tall shadowy figure standing there.


	3. Chapter 3

She opened her mouth, but the figure grabbed her and looked into her eyes. "Don't scream." It said. When she realized her mouth was still hanging open, she closed it slowly and took a few steps back.

"You must be Elena." He said as he looked her up and down with an expression she couldn't read. "I'm Damon." He offered. Elena was finally able to let out the breath she was holding.

"You're Gia's uncle." It was a statement more than a question, but Damon nodded anyway.

"I heard your door and decided to follow you down. Make sure you weren't sneaking out or anything."

Elena shook her head, her heartbeat was finally returning to a semi-normal rhythm. Until she caught a glimpse of his icy blue eyes. "You don't have to worry about that." She told him. "My parents practically kicked me out. I don't have anywhere else to go."

"Yeah, it seems you've gotten yourself into a little predicament."

"It's not like that. I can't remember anything."

"That's convenient." He said with a chuckle.

"I'm serious. I wish I could remember something about how this happened. I'm starting to believe that maybe I'm not supposed to. Like maybe something really bad happened and this was my brain's way of dealing with it."

Damon stared at her for a few minutes. She didn't know him well enough to know what this look meant, but maybe he was thinking about something. "Maybe." He finally said. "So what are you doing down here?"

"I got hungry. I went to sleep before I ate dinner."

"Find anything good?"

"Not really."

Damon motioned with his head. "Come on. I'll take you to get something."

"It's like 3:30 in the morning. What's open at this time?"

"I know a place."

Around 4:00 they were pulling into the parking lot a small 24 hour cafe. Elena ate until she was full and she and Damon talked for awhile. They talked about her life in Mystic Falls, and she was surprised to know that Damon knew where that was. He told her that she reminded him of a younger version of a girl he once knew. He called her Katerina. Before long, it was after six and they were headed back to the house. When they got inside, Elena saw the panic that flashed on Gia's face at the sight of Damon and the relief when she noticed her behind him.

"Elena, thank God! I was so worried."

"Sorry, Damon took me out for breakfast. I went to bed without dinner last night woke up really hungry."

"There's no need to apologize, Elena." Damon said, almost cockily. "You're my guest. Gia doesn't need to know where you are. I do."

"You're right, Uncle Damon."

"And Elena, while you are here, you're not to eat anything from the kitchen. If you're hungry or thirsty, let me know."

"But Uncle-" Gia started before Damon turned to her with a menacing glare. "Of course. Only the best for our guest." Gia gave a fake smile, that didn't go unnoticed by Elena.

"Okay." Elena told Damon. "I'm going to go to my room. Thanks again for breakfast, Damon."

"It was my pleasure, Elena." When Elena looked at Damon, she felt safe and thought he was the nicest guy in the world, but the fear in his niece's eyes, told a different story and Elena wasn't sure what to believe.

Elena was writing in her journal for awhile before she heard a knock at her door.

"Come in." She said as she looked up toward the door. Gia came in and closed the door behind her.

"Hey, Uncle Damon wanted me to come get you for lunch."

Elena's eyes widened as she looked at the time. "Oh my gosh! It's almost noon! I totally lost track of time."

Gia smiled and nodded toward the notebook. "What are you writing about?"

"This whole experience." Elena paused. "Forgive me if this sounds rude, but what's up with you and your uncle? He seemed really nice to me, but when you two are the same room together, I just get these weird vibes."

Gia thought for a moment. "Remember when I told you that I was brought up to believe in vampires?"

Elena nodded. "Was he the one who told you? Did he scare you that much?"

Gia shook her head. "Not exactly. He-"

There was a loud knock and Damon opened the door. "Come on! Food time!" He spoke to Elena, "I could eat yours, but I'm not sure how that'd help the little guy."

"Right." Elena smiled and put the journal down and followed Damon out of the room.


	4. Chapter 4

About a month passed and Elena was still showing no outward signs of being pregnant. A tutor had been coming to the house for a few weeks and Elena was pretty close with both Damon and Gia. Gia and Damon seemed to be getting to a point where Gia didn't seem scared speechless around her uncle and Elena even heard them talking every now and then when she wasn't in the room, which was a big step- at least compared to what Elena had witnessed between them in the past.

One day, Elena was making her way down the stairs when she heard Gia and Damon talking. She never liked to intrude on them and ruin a nice moment, so she turned around to start heading up the stairs when she heard Gia.

"I have a theory I've been wanting to talk to you about."

"What about?" Damon sounded bored.

"Elena."

Elena stopped and sat down on a step, curious to hear what Gia thought, and why she didn't tell her first.

Damon didn't say anything for awhile, but finally said, "Okay, let's hear it."

Gia took a deep breath. "I think a vampire did this to her."

By now, the vampire theories weren't funny to Elena anymore. She just rolled her eyes, but stayed seated to hear what Damon would say.

He laughed. "Vampires can't procreate. You know that."

"But she looks like Katherine." Who was Katherine? Damon told her the girl she looked like was Katerina,

"Your point?"

"Well Katherine was a vampire, so what if Elena's like her daughter or something?"

"But she's not, because vampires. Can't. Procreate."

"But she's been compelled!"

"I know."

"She repeats the same-wait... you know? How do you know?"

"Because I'm the one who did it."

"You? You did that to her?

"Yes I- wait, what are _you _talking about?" There was silence. "God, Giavonna! I didn't rape her! And the kid wouldn't be mine anyway because Vampires. Can't. Procreate." He said for the third time. Wait, did Damon just admit he was a vampire? "I just compelled her to forget a horribly traumatic experience."

Elena didn't know how it happened but one minute she was on the stairs and the next, she was looking at Damon and tears were falling down her cheeks.

"God, you're quiet." He said as a look of...was that panic?...crossed his face.

"Explain to me what hell you're talking about." Elena demanded.

And that's when Damon explained everything. He was a vampire-had been since the 1800s, back when he lived in Mystic Falls full time. He and his brother (oh yeah, he had a brother) had a falling out awhile back, but they both visited home every now and then. One night while he was in town, he was waiting for an unsuspecting passerby to come along when he heard sobbing. He went toward the noise and found Elena. She looked up at him and Damon saw two things: 1) She looked a lot like Katherine (apparently Katherine/Katerina is the same person. She just has a bunch of names) and 2) She was scared out of her mind...

_Damon approached the girl slowly and she jumped. Damon threw his hands up . "I'm not going to hurt you. Are you okay? Are you hurt, do you need any help?"_

_"I want to go home." She cried._

_"I can take you home. I have a car. It's parked down the street." She stood, but immediately fell. Damon quickly went over to her. She had bruises all over her body and could only imagine what happened, so he asked her. "What happened to you?"_

_"I was at the party and I was in the woods and he grabbed me, held me down, told me to be quiet, or he would kill me. I tried to get away and he grabbed my ankle. I can't walk on it."_

_"You need to go to the hospital."_

_"No! I just want to go home."_

_"What are your parents going to say when they see you in this condition?"_

_"I don't know. I just want to forget it ever happened."_

_Damon thought a moment. "What's your name?"_

_"Elena."_

_"Elena, who did this to you?"_

_"I don't know. I couldn't see his face. It all happened so fast."_

_"Did he..." Damon took a deep breath. This was the most interaction he'd had with a human in a long time that didn't include sleeping with them or feeding on them, but something about her made him want to protect her. "Did he rape you?"_

_Elena suddenly began crying, no longer quiet sobs. She nodded her head and then buried her face into Damon's shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck. Damon held her for several minutes, his vampire heart breaking for this young girl. The quiet sobs finally came back and she pulled away._

_"I just want to forget everything that happened. I want it to be a bad dream."_

_Damon took a deep breath and then bit his wrist. "Here, drink this." Elena looked up at him in confusion. "Trust me." He didn't even have to compel her. She just drank. He picked her up and carried her back to his car and she directed him to her house. By the time they pulled into her driveway, her injuries were completely healed. "Do you still want to forget everything?" He asked her._

_She nodded vigorously as tears fell down her cheeks. Her held her face in his hands and looked her in the eye. "Stop crying." He said. She did and he wiped the stray tears away with his thumb. "You were at the party in the woods and you had a good time, but you got tired and left early and walked home. You won't remember anything about what happened to you, and you're going to forget you met me."_...


	5. Chapter 5

"So that's it." Elena said. "I was raped?" Damon nodded. "I don't remember anything."

"That's the way you wanted it." Damon told her.

"Can you undo it?"

Damon's eyes widened. "What?"

"Maybe I'll know more now, maybe I could figure out who it was."

Damon shook his head. "I can't do that to you."

"I want to know whose child this is!"

"It's yours." Damon told her. "It's your child. It's growing inside of you. It doesn't matter who donated the sperm." Damon sighed. "You don't remember what kind of shape you were in that night, but I do. I don't want to have to see you like that again and I can guarantee you that you don't want to feel that way either. Just trust me, Elena."

Elena didn't say anything for awhile, but finally asked, "Why can't I eat anything from the kitchen?"

"Because of the vervain." Gia said quickly.

"Vervain?"

Damon growled and Gia cowered. "Vervain," Damon started. "Is an herb that renders a vampire's power useless." He grabbed her and looked her in the eyes, "But you're going to forget that and never eat or drink anything from the kitchen." He turned to Gia and muttered, "And if you mention it again, I'll deal with you, the way I dealt with your parents."

Gia's face revealed pain, and she ran past Elena and to her room.

"What happened? Is she okay?" Elena asked Damon.

"She's fine." Damon told her nonchalantly as he poured himself a glass of what she always assumed was wine, but after learning these new facts about her host, began to think otherwise. "You have a doctor's appointment soon. You get to find out if the little guy is in fact a little guy or not."

Elena put a hand on her flat stomach. "Yeah. I don't want to know."

"Well, you still have to go to the ultrasound."

"Why does it matter? It's not like I'm keeping it anyway. My mom said I couldn't."

"Well, even if you're not keeping it, it's going to somebody. They need to know everything is okay with it. A doctor is coming here with the equipment."

"Why do they need to come here?"

"Because... I said so."

Elena studied his face trying to read his expression. "You don't think the baby's human. Do you?"

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to. What happened to all the "vampires can't procreate" crap you were shoving down Gia's throat?"

"That's true, normally...but you look like Katherine."

"What? So you now you think I'm Katherine's daughter too?"

"I didn't say that either. I've heard stories in passing about a supposed doppelganger that is supposed to be supernatural somehow. I don't know all of the details, but I know enough to make me wonder."

"What so you think I could be pregnant with a vampire baby because I look like a girl you used to know? I thought not knowing how this happened was crazy. This is just insane."

"We just have to explore all possible options."

"I'm going to my room." Elena announced and quickly left.


	6. Chapter 6

A few more months passed. She found out she was having a girl; a (as far as anyone could tell) healthy, human baby girl. The progress that was being made with Damon and Gia quickly imploded after she ran to her room that day. Elena hardly ever saw her anymore. Damon was becoming like her best friend, and since her stomach had exploded overnight, it seemed, he was being overly protective of her. He would fluff her pillows and rub her feet. He even moved both of their rooms downstairs so he could still be next to her if she needed him, and she wouldn't run the risk of falling down the stairs; because in his theory, she can't fall down them if she never has to go up them.

"Are you ever going to settle down?" she asked him one night.

"Me? Nah, probably not. Okay, I take that back. If I can find the right girl, maybe."

"What do you want?" She asked him.

"I don't know." He told her. "I don't know what I want."

"Of you course you do. You want what everybody wants." She told him with a smirk.

"Oh yeah? And what's that?"

"You want," Elena closed her eyes thought for a moment. "A love that consumes you. You want passion and adventure, and even a little danger."

Damon chuckled, "That sounds like more what you want."

"I said everybody wants it. Remember?"

"Touche."

Elena's smile slowly faded. "It's getting closer to my due date. I'm sad that I won't be here too much longer."

"You don't have to be back until June. You can stay until then."

"Really?"

"Of course. Truthfully, I like the company. It gets a little lonely here."


	7. Chapter 7

Even more months passed. Elena gave birth to a healthy baby girl, whom she named Charlotte. She was allowed to look at a few files and pick a family for her little girl to go to. The day had finally come where the social worker was coming to take the baby to be placed in the home of a nice Italian couple. Elena was sitting in a rocking chair holding Charlotte, when Damon came in.

"The social worker will be here soon." He said softly. Elena had been crying for a few days already, not wanting to say goodbye to the precious infant.

"I keep looking at her, trying to figure out who she looks like."

"She looks like you." Damon told her.

Elena nodded. "I know. I'm glad."

"Damon." Gia said from the door.

Damon didn't acknowledge Gia, but instead asked Elena, "Can I hold her?"

Elena nodded and hesitantly handed the baby over. Damon caught Gia's eye and quickly passed Charlotte to her, then turned back to hold Elena in place while Gia ran the baby down the stairs.

Elena was sobbing and Damon's heart was breaking all over again for the same girl. It was then he realized that it had been one year ago exactly that he sat in the woods and held a scared 13 year-old girl after one of the most traumatic experiences of her life, vowing to himself to protect her the best he could. A year later, he was still keeping that vow and he knew what he had to do. He knew he'd have to do it ever since he agreed to let her stay with him. He held her for a long time as she cried into his shoulder.

When she finally pulled away he said, "You have to leave now." He grabbed her hands and looked into her eyes. "This school year has been the best of your life. You lived with a nice Italian family, none of whom spoke English- You had to teach them. You saw all of the sites and would love to come back one day, but for now you're ready to be home. You're going to forget about Charlotte, or that you were ever pregnant to begin with, and you're going to forget about me. Again." Damon left the room and went straight for his. He would have to forget about Elena, (she was too young for him anyway) and the best way to do that was to throw himself into another woman. Normally he would leave to find somebody, but right now, there was a woman in particular that piqued his interest. Katherine.


	8. Chapter 8

Gia walked into Elena's room and saw her looking under the bed. "Elena?" She questioned.

Elena looked up. "Oh good. HAVE. YOU. SEEN. MY. JOURNAL?" She spoke loudly and emphasized each word, miming the best she could.

Gia shook her head. "No. Sorry."

Elena sighed. "WELL. IF. YOU. SEE. IT. YOU. HAVE. MY. ADDRESS. PLEASE. MAIL. IT. TO. ME."

Gia nodded. "Of course."

Elena smiled. "YOUR. ENGLISH. IS. GETTING. VERY. GOOD."

Gia smiled as Angelo came in and took Elena's bags. The girls waved to each other and Gia followed Elena out of her room, and once Elena was down the hall, Gia opened her uncle's door.

"Is she gone yet?" Damon asked.

"No. You're going to miss her if you don't hurry up. I can watch Charlotte."

Damon looked down at the tiny baby in his arms. "No. She needs to forget me. I'm going to leave soon. So, you know that Charlotte is your responsibility now."

Gia nodded. "And I'll make sure she knows who her mother is."

"You understand, right? This is the only way to protect her. If word got out that the Petrova line was still around..."

"I know."

Damon breathed a sigh and waited until he heard the car drive away. He stood and handed the baby over. "If you ever need any help, you know how to get in touch with me."

Gia nodded and in a flash, Damon was gone and she was left standing with the sleeping infant.

* * *

The End! I may write a sequel that picks up when Elena meets Damon at the party after the fight with Matt, and Elena remembering everything, but it just depends on the response I get from this one...Maybe in that one we'll find out who the daddy is.


	9. Author's Note

I just wanted to let people know, that I posted the first chapter to the sequel called "The Story Continues." Please check it out and review!


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